Using cloth - Help me get my head around it all!

DF and I are very determined to cloth nappy, but OMG :o There is so much to learn, all these nappies, I have no clue where to start!! So, a few questions:

How many nappies will we need?

How many times a week will I need to wash?

What sort of nappies should a newbie like me get? Fitted, all in one...argh I just don't know!

We don't have heaps of $$ but see these nappies as a good investment, for the environment, our bubba and our back pockets. So any suggestions would be great, websites etc (maybe in PM's?) We just want simple, easy to use and GOOD cloth nappies, don't mind so much in the beginning about custom patterns etc.

Cheers oh wise ones!

Great post pz, I'm subbing cos I'm in the same position :)

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I'm sure an expert will be in soon, but I've cloth nappied two so I have a fair idea.....
I found that for a newborn I needed at least 12 nappies a day, but DS was a super pooper, and not all babies will be like that. I washed every couple of days at the start because I washed his nappies separately (because NB BF poo is just well...yuck). Now I wash the nappies every day with the regular wash so I need less IYKWIM?
You'll need to wash dependent on how many nappies you own and how quick they dry.

For a NB you can't beat either fitteds with a cover or prefolds with a cover. I sucked with prefolds so just stuck to fitteds, but most love prefolds. That is because two layers of protection are generally better for pooslposions.
While i love the idea of AIOs and AI2s they just don't work for us because DS is a MASSIVE wee-er and they are harder to boost because generally they are slimmer fitting so the majority of my stash for him are pockets, but that is something I found you really couldn't tell until they arrived.
for eg I bought lots of BBH for DD but they just didn't suit DS at all so most are hardly worn. I've also tried most of the hard to gets but they just didn't work for use so we have a really basic stash.

I have a stack of BBH hemp and bamboo if you are interested in those to try cheaply.
ETA I also loved spunkybutts fitteds, and if I have another will buy them mainly.
Bummis covers were my fave, but many swear by Baby beehinds covers.
Maz also makes fantastic civers, they've saved my clothes many a time.

I used fitteds, one-size-fits-most and terry towelling squares. Planning the same again, this time though I'm starting from the beginning and trying some prefolds!

Best of luck!

Great thread PZ I was wondering this too :p

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I'm sure an expert will be in soon, but I've cloth nappied two so I have a fair idea.....
I found that for a newborn I needed at least 12 nappies a day, but DS was a super pooper, and not all babies will be like that.

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:o OMG Kim really? I just had a heart attack at 12 nappies a day! What a humungous job that must've been for you! Lol Im glad not all bubs are like that though phew!!

Ummm complete nappy idiot here :dunno: Can you translate pretty please?? BBH? Civers? Pockets? Hard to gets?

We started with prefolds and covers when DD2 was newborn. Then moved on to AI2's and pockets for a while and now moving back to prefolds and covers cause DD2 has huge wee's.

We wash every day to 2 days, depending on the weather and how many she goes though.

We have about 24 nappies/covers/prefolds that run through a rotation, some waiting to be washed, some drying and some ready to wear. We have always had about that many and we just washed more regularly when she was little.

BBH has great info on their website, as well as some of the other larger brand sites. I would suggest signing up for cloth nappy hunt. You learn heaps about the nappy world as well as having a chance to score some prizes.

GL!

Nah....a humungous job is 20 nappies a day lol....and running out of diposables in the middle of the night and having no backup.
They're so easy....chuck em in dry bucket, nd chuck em in the wash with 1/4-1/2 scoop of washing powder or 2tbs bicarb. Then hang them on the line....

I used prefolds, terry flats & covers at the start. They are great, cheap & fit all babies ;)
Also awesome for back up once you start to fill your stash.

Maz covers are the best. No doubt ;) Fit over any nappy IME.

All brands will fit differently, so I'd wait til bub is here to invest alot of money. That way you have a chance of knowing what fits best :)

I have 21 AIO's/AI2's & wash every 2 - 3 days. I have flate & prefolds I use in there too. I'd say 10 - 12 or more a day for the NB stage. You will be vhanging every hour or 2 day & night.

ETA - I don't use powder. If I do I use eco store. DD gets eczema from washing powders.

If I had to start again with my stash, knowing what I know now having had my DS in a variety of MCN, I would buy exclusively AIO or AI2 type nappies with boosters. I would have a starter stash of easi-dry bambooty nappies (size mediums) to use from birth and then some bonnibuns and/or itti bittis for when they outgrown the mediums (around 9 months give or take).

Of course every baby is different etc which makes it harder.

The other lesson from my experience:never buy velcro, the kids learn to take it off and I find it never stays on the wash tabs in the wash and gets stuck to other nappies.

Ooh my favourite subject *rubs hands together with glee*

I'm no expert either but have clothed 3 kids now, two being from newborn. I like prefolds and covers to begin with, mainly because you do go through a lot with the poo newborns do and prefolds are cheap. I only have 6 this time round though, but I do have sone fitteds, all in 2s and some all in 1's as well. As for what type you should go with, it really comes down to personal preference, I use Widdlewuns with the girls and they are all in 2's. Some people love pockets, I got sick of stuffing them so I sold mine off.

As for how often I wash, probably every 2nd day and that's with 2 in cloth. I go through about 6 a day each girl but don't use cloth at night. I'd say a safe number for a newborn would be 10 a day, and probably start a stash if 30 to give you some drying time, making allowances for bad weather and the fact you live in Melbourne. I'm not a fan of one size fits most, just because it's harder to get a good fit than with sized nappies.

Can't remember what else was asked! Hope that helps.

Oh god...I'm even more confused now :hiding: Will need to google all these brands methinks.

Head over to the Australian Nappy Network page hun, here http://nappynetwork.org.au/content/reusable-nappies

I will say Happy Heiny's do a great fitting OSFM. Out of all mine it was a great fit on DD as a NB.
Other OSFM haven't been so great. Green Kids are good, but are bulky.
Both are pockets.

I use medium Itti's mostly on DD now. Them & swaddlebees side snaps are the best fit for her. Skinny hips, skinnier than average thighs & a pot belly :lol:

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Head over to the Australian Nappy Network page hun, here http://nappynetwork.org.au/content/reusable-nappies

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:yeahthat: that is the website I was trying to think off :)

That reminds me, I need to go through my tiny stash and see which ones are more suited to NB so I can stick one or two in my hospy bag... I want to bring bub home in cloth...

Sorry, I'm no help :lol:


Sent from my iPhone so forgive the speelung misstacks ;)

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Great thread PZ I was wondering this too :p



:o OMG Kim really? I just had a heart attack at 12 nappies a day! What a humungous job that must've been for you! Lol Im glad not all bubs are like that though phew!!

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12 a day for a newborn is pretty much normal I think (or are you calling my darling DD abnormal LOL!)

For all the newbies there are a couple of threads that you may be interested in

Cloth Nappy Glossary

Help for New Users

pmsl You will be lucky to get it under 12 a day for a newborn!!

I must of been lucky, dd1 was about 8 nappies a day, but she was formula fed, and dd2 was about 10 nappies a day on average! Woohoo! Lol

I'm definately no expert compared to the OP in here but am a lover of prefolds and covers here too for NB's. I've got a stash of 24 bummi's and about 5 bummi's covers with the double leg gussets and boy do they hold in the the NB breastmilk poos :D Don't think we ever had one leak out of them. I wash every 2-3 days, they are quick drying which is very handy during the winter months. Even my very skeptical DH loves using them and is sad she's outgrown them and must admit I am abit too. We're onto pocket nappies now.

What works best depends on your situation. What's most important to you?
ease of use overall - all in ones
easy to put on, but requires a bit more work putting together - all in 2s (snap in) or pockets
best containment of poosplosions - fitted & covers
quick dry - pockets, flats/prefolds and covers
cheap - flats/prefolds & covers
cute - modern cloth with adorable patterns and minky outers :)

What we did: flats at the start, I think 20 flats and 6 small covers? Washing every second day, airers up inside constantly cos it was a Melbourne winter and nothing dried outside! (Hence flats over prefolds - I found the extra folding was no biggie.) A couple of nice-looking MCN for going out and showing off the cuteness of cloth :) Then I started building a stash of MCN at the baby expo when she was about 2-3 months old. I wanted to look at things before buying them, but now I'm quite happy buying online :) I bought one or two of about eight different brands that day, so I could work out what fit her best before investing in a stash. I've found most things fit ok now, but before 6 months she only fit narrow crotch brands, so OSFM (one size fits most) were useless, and even small BBH (Baby Beehinds - brand with a generous fit!) looked ridiculously large.

Some nappies fit certain body shapes better than others but some things that I have found with my 2 in cloth

- pocket nappies are great for Melbourne, AIO's take way too long to dry and you can get extra inserts as the outers dry quicker than the inserts
- don't buy a whole stack of a certain type until you know you like them and they suit your bub
- get some second hand ones cheply to try
- I love Fuzzibunz, Happy Heiny's, Ecobubs

What you need to begin with can depend on the size of bub too. As my DS was a big boy I was able to use sized small itti's from birth, just changing out the inserts unless he did a poo. I've tried heaps of brands but I always go back to fitteds (like BBH bamboo) with a cover, I'm a purist and prefer wool soakers or longies. If it's about the $$ OSFM fitteds would most probably be a better option than sized AIO's or AI2's, they're not as "pretty" but it's one of the most practical and cheapest ways to go.

Ok so I'm subsrcibing to. I did cloth for DD when she was bigger but have been tossing up whether to do it with this one from NB.

I leaning towards starting mainly because of the enviromental impact dispossibles have but also the cost.

Does someone have a link to Maz's website??

I started cloth with DS1 when he was about 11 months, so I went first to prefolds (because of price) then slowly purchased some of each different nappy style until i found what i loved. This turned out to be mostly Pocket nappies OSFM like BumG's. I liked that i could dry them in the winter time fairly easily - moreso than the AIO's. Hey, it's Melbourne remember - it's not always sunny!

Turns out some nappies fit some kids and some nappies fit other kids. DS1 was skinny, so some brands just didn't work well. I even had to buy 2 different swimmer's for him because the first wasn't quite right. Still a LOT cheaper than sposies. For this reason, I'd never recommend buying one of those massive 'all you ever need' offers that some websites do where you can buy 101 nappies all at once. JIC they aren't quite right.

DS2 was easy because i already had lots of prefolds and flats from DS1 for the NB stage.

Wanna look at some? I'm sure you could get a few of us together and we could bring you some to look at and play with.

well both of my kiddies have about 20 each including nights DD from birth i probably changed every feed so about 8 to 10 times a day no its every 2-3 hours and one for nights so about 8 hours

used prefolds and flats at birth now using pockets and AI2's ittis, babybeehind magicalls, greenkids OSFM and dragonfly magic OSFM :)

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Ok so I'm subsrcibing to. I did cloth for DD when she was bigger but have been tossing up whether to do it with this one from NB.

I leaning towards starting mainly because of the enviromental impact dispossibles have but also the cost.

Does someone have a link to Maz's website??

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Look up wahmnaps/mazalicious, or search mazalicious on facebook :)

I was lucky too... we got away with 8 nappies a day, and with a boosted nappy we could go 9-10 hours overnight in the one.

I used a few prefolds, but I loved my fitteds and covers. Like Kim, I loooooved the Spunky Butts and Dream Eze fitteds, and my favourite covers were probably the Bummis covers. I also used Mother Ease Rikki covers and later a Tots Bots cover, which is still great.
For travelling, I have been using AIOs and AI2s. Great fits on my little (actually, she's huge) bubba have been Ecobubs, Bubblebubs and Babmbootys. She's got massive thighs and a little short waist.

If you want to start a stash fairly cheaply, I think I'll have some second hand stuff going pretty soon. Might post it here, but if you want first dibs, I'm cool with that :D

for me i kinda just fell headlong into it and bought a full-time pack (26 nappies) of bumgenius pocket nappies (ie they fit from newborn to toddler). i have used them full-time for both girls so far and LOVE them. very easy to use and super easy to clean.

with the 26 we would wash every 2-3 days. but seriously it is not hard to do...they dont need soaking, just chuck 'em in and voila! and they dry super super quick.

i'll PM you the lady we went through as she was really helpful when i was buying them.

i have tried a few others...cushie tushie (didnt like them at all :(), kangas (ok) and some really pretty ones (erica's). the latter are just gorgeous on, but are more IMO for looks than performance ITMS.

my bum-g's are a for us a total workhorse and sooo worth the $$

Moo pooed on average 24 times per day in the early weeks, which is why I didn't start using cloth on him until he was about 6 weeks old. I struggled with our regular washing so there was no way I could handle extra at that stage. Once we were past that I found the washing really easy and LOVED hanging out and stuffing his nappies :D Still do!

I started off with 8 and have slowly built up to 30 MCNs, half sized and half OSFM. I thought I'd hate the sized nappies as they wouldn't last long...but he was/is in them for months. Moo goes through maybe 7 nappies perday, that's only for day use as I use sposies for night.

I wash every 2 days and don't run out of nappies - I probably use the same fav 16 nappies over and over. I don't have a dryer so am relying on the sun and wind! Winter I do find the AIOs take a couple of days to completely dry though.

My absolute fav nappies are the BumGenius. They wear so well, he's been in them since we started and the velcro is still perfect and the elastic hasn't stretched so well worth the expense. They are pocket so are faster drying. My 2nd fav are the OSFM BabyBeeHinds, again worth the expense but a bit chunkier under his pants. The last brand I have are the Hautes which are a cheaper version of the BG. He has been in these since I started too but they haven't held up as well so I only use them if I have to.

Good Luck! It's overwhelming when you first start but I'm sure you'll soon get the hang of all the brands and lingo :lol: